.A.     SERMON 


PRAYER  FOR  RULERS, 


nKi.ivF.KKi>    IN  Tin: 


|1resbtcriait  Cjnircjj  in  C{jitajj0, 


SABBATH    MORNING,    JUNE    8,    1856, 


Ki:v.   R.   W.   PATTERSON, 


PASTOR   OF   THi: 


CHICAGO : 

PIT.LISIIKI)     I'.Y    S.    ('.    liKKit.S    AND    COMPANY 
CHARLES  SCOTT,  STKAM  BOOK  AXD  JOD  PRINTER. 

1856. 


SERMON 


ON 


PRAYER  FOR  RULERS, 


DELIVERED    IN    THE 


mfyrfmim  Cjrarcfj  in 


SABBATH    MORNING,    JUNE    8,    1856, 


REV.   B.  W.   PATTERSON, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHICAGO: 

PUBLISHED    BY   S.   C.    GRIGGS    AND    COMPANY. 

1856. 


CHICAGO,    JUNE    9,    1856. 
KEV.  R.   W.  PATTERSON, 

PASTOE  OP  THE  SECOND  PRESBYTBBIAN  CHURCH  : 

Dear  Sir:  We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  your  Church  and  Congregation,  a  portion 
of  those  who  heard  your  discourse  last  Sabbath  morning,  from  first  TIM.,  2:  1 — 4,  respect- 
fully request  a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication. 

JOHN  C.  WILLIAMS,  II.  M.  THOMPSON, 

J.  H.  DUNHAM,  JAMES  PECK, 

J.  H.  REED,  F.  D.  GRAY, 

And  forty-one  others. 


CHICAGO,    JUNE    10,    1856. 
MESSRS.  J.  C.  WILLIAMS,  J.  H.  DUNHAM,  J.  H.  REED, 

H.  M.  THOMPSON,  JAMES  PECK,  F.  D.  GRAY,  AND  OTHERS  : 

Gentlemen :  Tour  note,  requesting  for  publication  a  copy  of  my  discourse  delivered  on 
last  Sabbath  morning,  has  been  received.  Were  I  to  follow  my  own  judgment  in  regard  to 
the  merits  of  the  discourse,  I  should  feel  constrained  to  decline  complying  with  your  request. 
I  feel  bound,  however,  to  respect  your  kindly  judgment,  and  that  of  many  other  considerate 
friends,  who  have  spoken  to  me  touching  this  matter. 

You  are  aware,  Gentlemen,  that  I  never  meddle,  in  the  pulpit,  with  party  politics,  as  such. 
I  have  never  had  any  private  affiliation  with  political  parties  on  any  hand.  Nor  have  I  ever 
deemed  it  my  duty  to  discuss,  in  the  pulpit,  the  merits  or  demerits  of  any  particular  acts  of 
public  legislation.  At  the  same  tune  I  have  always  held  it  to  be  the  right  and  the  duty  of  the 
pulpit  to  expound  occasionally  those  great  principles  of  liberty  and  moral  obligation  by  which 
Christians  ought  ever  to  be  guided  in  their  relation  to  the  public  affairs  of  the  country ;  and  a 
political  policy  which  denies  this  right  and  duty,  seems  to  me  eminently  anti-Christian.  It 
is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  minister  of  Christ  can  be  faithful  at  this  point,  without  being 
at  times  accused  of  stepping  out  of  his  sphere,  by  a  class  of  politicians  who  dread  any  fair 
application  of  Christian  principles  to  their  courses  and  acts.  And  it  ought  not  to  be  a  mat- 
ter of  surprise  that  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  who  pursues  at  once  a  prudent  and  yet  a  fearless 
course,  should  be  deemed  by  one  class  of  extreme  men  "  behind  the  times,"  and  by  another 
class,  dangerously  "radical."  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  essentially  the  same  exposition  of 
principles  which  was  in  1850  thought  by  some,  too  favorable  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  is  now 
regarded  by  some  in  an  opposite  quarter,  as  savoring  of  sympathy  with  a  rebellious  and 
revolutionary  spirit.  "  Whereunto  shall  we  liken  this  generation?"  "  But  wisdom  is  justi- 
fied of  her  children."  And  all  such  facts  enforce  the  great  duty  which  I  have  recommended 
in  my  discourse — the  duty  of  prayer  for  those  who  are  in  authority,  and  for  all  our  citizens, 
especially  in  this  season  of  excitement,  when  passion  is  hurrying  so  many  of  our  people  to 
bold  extremes  on  either  hand. 

The  discourse  to  which  you  refer  was  not  prepared  as  the  result  of  any  expressed  wish 
from  any  quarter,  or  under  the  influence  of  any  special  impulse  of  feeling.  It  expresses 
views  and  convictions  which  have  rested  in  my  mind,  without  material  change,  for  many 
years.  It  is,  Gentlemen,  at  your  disposal,  if  you  think  its  publication  would  tend  to  correct 
misapprehensions,  or  to  guide  Christians  or  other  conscientious  persons  as  to  their  duty  in 
the  present  crisis  of  our  public  affairs. 

With  high  regard,  I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Your  obliged  Friend  and  Pastor, 

R.    W.    PATTERSON 


PRAYER 


THOSE  IN  POLITICAL  AUTHORITY. 


1  TIMOTHY,  2 :  1-4. 

"  I  exhort,  therefore,  that,  first  of  all,  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions,  and  giving  of 
thanks,  be  made  for  all  men  ; 

For  kings,  and  for  all  that  are  in  authority,  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life, 
in  all  godliness  and  honesty. 

For  this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  our  Saviour ; 

Who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." 


THE  duty  of  prayer  is  one  which  is  much  insisted  upon  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  The  Apostle,  in  the  words  just  read,  exhorts  that,j£rs£  of 
all,  as  a  primary  duty,  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions,  and  giving 
of  thanks,  be  made.  And  he  would  not  have  a  part  only  of  our  fellow 
creatures  chosen  as  the  objects  of  our  petitions  at  the  throne  of  the 
Heavenly  grace.  He  calls  upon  us  as  believers  in  the  universal  Su- 
premacy and  Providence  of  God,  to  remember  in  our  intercessions  all 
men,  of  every  class,  whether  they  be  friends,  enemies  or  strangers. 
And  he  names,  as  specially  entitled  to  our  sympathies  and  suppli- 
cations, kings,  and  all  that  are  in  authority,  or  in  stations  of  pre- 
eminence. Then,  he  assigns  reasons  for  compliance  with  this  precept, 
which  are  of  the  most  weighty  character.  The  passage  might  well  be 
made  the  foundation  of  a  discourse  touching  the  great  duty  of  prayer 
and  thanksgiving  in  general ;  but  it  calls  our  attention,  in  particular, 
to  the  importance  of  prayer  for  those  of  our  fellow-men,  to  whose  hands 
civil  and  political  power  is  entrusted.  And  this  special  topic,  always 
appropriate  for  our  serious  consideration,  appears  to  press  itself  upon 
our  thoughts  and  hearts  with  peculiar  urgency  at  the  present  time. 


r 


PEAYER   FOE   THOSE    IN 


Let  me,  therefore,  invite  your  attention  this  morning,  to  the  DUTY 
of  prayer  for  rulers,  and  for  all  who  possess  political  power,  and  to 
SOME  RFASONS  for  an  earnest  performance  of  this  duty,  especially  in 
the  present  circumstances  of  our  beloved  country. 

I.  The  Word  of  God  habitually  recognizes  the  rule  of  kings  as 
proper  to  be  regarded  with  reverence  and  submission  in  ages  of  the 
world  when  the  monarchical  form  of  government  was  almost  everywhere 
established,  and  when  the  general  condition  of  human  society  scarcely 
admitted  of  any  freer  and  more  desirable  system  of  government.  It  is, 
of  course,  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  recognition  of  royal  authority, 
that  the  right  of  kings  is  affirmed  by  a  Divine  sanction,  as  a  right  to 
be  maintained  in  all  the  more  advanced  stages  of  social  and  civil 
progress  in  human  history.  The  Bible  does  not  meddle  directly  with 
existing  forms  of  civil  government.  It  authorizes  civil  rule  in  some 
form  as  an  "  ordinance  of  God,"  but  leaves  it  to  human  prudence  and 
to  the  orderings  of  Divine  Providence,  together  with  the  silent  working 
of  revealed  principles  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  to  determine, 
from  time  to  time,  what  particular  form  of  government  shall  be  estab- 
lished and  sustained  for  the  benefit  of  each  Commonwealth  or  Nation. 
When,  therefore,  the  Apostles  exhort  their  readers  to  "  be  subject  to 
the  higher  powers,"  to  "  honor  the  king,"  and  to  "  pray  for  kings  and 
for  all  that  are  in  authority,"  they  only  point  out  the  fit  application,  in 
formerly  existing  circumstances,  of  the  great  principle,  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  Christian  people  to  respect,  and  commend  to  God  in  their  sup- 
plications, the  men  who  are  providentially  entrusted  with  the  political 
rule  and  supremacy  under  which  they  live.  These  precepts  are  in  prin- 
ciple and  spirit,  but  not  in  a  literal  sense,  applicable  to  us,  under  the 
republican  form  of  government  which  God  has  providentially  secured 
to  us.  We  may  respect  and  pray  for  kings,  only  as  rulers  remote  from 
us,  to  whose  hands  are  committed  the  public  and  civil  interests  of 
other  nations.  The  general  principle  which  has  been  defined  as 
involved  in  the  Scriptural  precepts  touching  this  subject,  would  require 
us  to  reverence,  and  remember  before  God,  as  our  own  rulers,  those 
whom  we  ourselves,  as  a  people,  have  placed  in  authority,  and,  with 
them,  all  the  sovereign  citizens,  in  whose  hands  the  civil  power  ulti- 
mately resides.  "The  powers  that  be"  and  "are  ordained  of  God," 
in  our  country,  are  the  people,  and  those  persons  whom  the  people 
select  to  rule  over  them  under  the  guidance  of  the  Constitution  and 
laws  already  established.  We  may,  then,  regard  our  text  as  enjoining 
upon  us  the  frequent  presentation  of  earnest  petitions  to  the  God  of 


POLITICAL    AUTHORITY. 


Nations  in  behalf  of  all  those  in  our  land  who  possess  and  exercise 
civil  authority  in  any  form,  but  especially  for  those  who  are  actually 
appointed  to  rule  over  us.  This  duty  is  already. recognized,  no  doubt, 
with  more  or  less  distinctness,  by  every  person  among  us  who  believes 
that  God  hears  prayer.  But  it  may  be  useful  to  notice  a  few  points 
at  which  difficulty,  or  positive  error,  is  liable  to  arise  in  some  minds 
with  respect  to  what  is  implied  in  the  offering  of  prayer  for  those  who 
possess  civil  authority.  Let  me  then  say, 

1.  That  we  are  not  required  to  pray  for  the  sovereign  people, 
or  for  our  rulers,  in  any  such  form  or  manner  as  would  imply  a  sanction 
of  their  mistakes  or  wicked  doings.  God's  requirements  are  not  in 
conflict  with  each  other.  His  laws  are  supreme.  No  majorities  among 
communities ;  no  action  of  public  legislators ;  no  decisions  of  judicial 
courts ;  no  decrees  of  supreme  executives,  can  make  that  to  be  lawful 
and  right  which  GOD  ALMIGHTY  has  forbidden;  or  that  to  be  wrong 
and  unlawful  which  HE  has  required.  "We  ought,"  said  the  Apostles 
to  the  Jewish  rulers,  "  to  obey  God,  rather  than  man;"*  thus  affirming 
the  principle,  that  where  we  must  either  disobey  God  or  men,  we  ought 
always  to  prefer  allegiance  to  our  Infinite  Maker,  and  consent,  if  need 
be,  to  suffer  the  penalties  of  unrighteous  human  laws.  And  we  read 
in  the  Word  of  God  heavy  condemnation  against  "  the  throne  of 
iniquity  which  frameth  mischief  by  a  law,"  and  against  those  men  who 
"  gather  themselves  together  against  the  righteous,  and  condemn  the 
innocent  blood."  Now,  we  know  that  God  never  contradicts  himself. 
"  He  cannot  deny  himself."  He  does  not,  therefore,  require  us  to 
pray  for  the  success  of  either  people  or  rulers  in  their  efforts  to  carry 
out  and  establish  false  principles.  He  abhors  wrong  and  injustice,  and 
would  spurn  from  his  mercy  seat  any  invocation  of  help  for  those  who 
would  so  legislate,  or  so  administer  laws,  as  to  make  war  upon  the 
truth  or  upon  the  rights  of  men.  It  may  even  be  our  duty  to  pray 
that  the  wicked  counsels  of  those  who  are  in  authority  should  be  turned 
into  foolishness,  like  the  counsel  of  Ahithophel.  "  We  can  do  nothing 
against  the  truth,  but  for  the  truth."  And  every  petition  we  offer  to 
the  Most  High  should  consist  with  a  supreme  concern  for  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  our  Kedeemer's  Kingdom  of  peace  and  righteousness,  and 
for  the  triumph  of  true  Christian  liberty  throughout  the  earth.  It  is 
our  duty  to  pray  that  our  rulers,  and  all  the  people,  may  be  restrained 
from  wrong-doing,  and  not  prospered  in  any  selfish  designs  or  mistaken 

*  Acts  5.  29.    See  also,  Acts  4. 18-20.    Daniel  3. 13-18. 


6  PEAYEK   FOR  THOSE    IN 

devices.  "  The  voice  of  the  people  is"  not  "  the  voice  of  God."  For 
all  men  are  fallible,  and  liable  to  be  selfish  and  passionate,  and  wicked. 
Kulers  are  not  infallible,  but  are  often  arbitrary,  unjust  and  oppressive ; 
and  they  can  only  be  the  objects  of  God's  gracious  benediction,  so  far 
as  they  acknowledge,  in  practice,  the  great  law  of  impartial  love,  and 
the  Supremacy  of  Him  who  sits  on  the  Throne  of  Universal  Dominion. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  our  duty  to  pray  against  their  policy  and 
measures,  while  we  pray  for  their  persons  and  for  the  renovation  of 
their  characters.  The  early  Christians  prayed  for  their  persecutors 
who  were  in  power,  but  never  for  the  success  of  their  malignant 
designs. 

2.  Again :  It  is  obvious,  that  the  precept  which  we  are  consider- 
ing, does  not  imply  any  obligation  to  submit  passively  to  wrong  and 
injustice  on  the  part  of  our  rulers,  where  legitimate  modes  of  relief  are 
available  to  the  suffering  subjects.  We  may  not  speak  evil  of  rulers, 
as  such.  We  may  not  despise  their  authority,  even  when  it  is  wielded 
against  the  right.  We  may  not,  on  Christian  principles,  resist  the 
powers  which  God  has  evidently  ordained.  Even  Nero's  rule,  despotic 
as  it  was  when  Paul  wrote  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  was  recognized 
by  the  Apostle  as  "an  ordinance  of  God,"  which  it  was  wrong  for 
particular  subjects  to  withstand  by  forcible  means.  But  that  crushing 
despotism  was  then  established,  and  Divine  Providence  had,  as  yet, 
prepared  no  human  agency  by  which  it  could  be  displaced,  so  as  to 
make  room  for  a  better  government.  It  was,  therefore,  the  duty  of  all 
Christians  to  suffer  quietly  under  its  iron  rigor,  while  they  refused  to 
obey  its  mandates,  in  any  manner  that  involved  disobedience  to  God. 
The  case  is  widely  different  where  the  Providence  of  God  raises  the 
question  whether  the  sceptre  of  dominion  might  not,  and  should  not,  be 
transferred  to  other  and  better  hands.  In  such  a  case,  as  when  our 
fathers  threw  off  the  British  yoke,  the  question  is,  Who  are  the  legiti- 
mate rulers  ?  What  is  the  power  which  God  now  ordains  ?  And  the 
right  of  revolution  may  thus  be  defended,  whenever  it  is  apparent, 
first,  that  the  reigning  power  has  been  so  abused  as  to  be  subversive  of 
the  chief  ends  of  civil  government ;  and,  secondly,  that  Divine  Provi- 
dence has  probably  placed  the  establishment  of  a  wiser  and  safer  public 
administration  within  the  reach  of  the  wronged  and  suffering  party. 
The  case  is  still  clearer  where  the  ultimate  power  of  correcting  gov- 
ernmental abuses  is  lodged  by  the  Constitution  of  the  country  in  the 
hands  of  the  people.  In  such  circumstances  the  right  of  any  who  are 
subjected  to  lawless  violence,  to  defend  themselves,  is  unquestionable. 


POLITICAL    AUTHORITY. 


Equally  clear,  is  the  right  to  demand  redress  and  protection  at  the 
hands  of  the  government,  when  any  portion  of  the  citizens  are  oppressed 
and  made  the  subjects  of  cruel  and  relentless  atrocities,  under  pretense 
of  executing  enactments  "which  have  been  made  by  no  duly  constituted 
authorities,  but  by  the  representatives  of  lawless  mobs  and  wicked  in- 
vaders. It  may  be  the  solemn  duty  of  an  unoffending  people,  who  are 
pillaged  and  butchered  under  false  color  of  law,  to  defend  themselves 
at  all  hazards,  and  appeal  for  the  justification  of  their  course  to  God  and 
to  their  fellow-countrymen,  who  love  righteousness  and  hate  iniquity.* 
And  it  is  surely  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  use  all  his  civil  preroga- 
tives to  displace  rulers  who  identify  themselves  with  the  cause  of  oppres- 
sion, and  seek  to  sustain  and  extend  it  by  forcibly  crushing  the  lovers 
of  freedom  and  humanity.  The  possession  of  a  citizen's  power  under 
a  representative  government,  involves  the  obligation  to  use  that  power 
in  the  support  of  men  who  will  wisely  exercise  their  authority  against 
violence  and  despotism,  and  in  favor  of  sobriety,  the  elevation  and  free- 
dom of  all  men,  and  the  restriction  within  the  narrowest  possible  lim- 
its, of  every  evil  that  cannot  be  at  once  effectually  cured.  These 
principles  will  not  be  found,  on  the  closest  scrutiny,  to  conflict  with  any 
reasonable  interpretation  of  those  precepts  of  our  Lord  and  his  Apos- 
tles, which  forbid  any  attempt  to  take  vengeance,  by  private  means, 

*  In  a  discourse  from  MATTHEW  22 :  21,  December  8, 1850, 1  made  the  following  remarks : 
"  But  is  there  not,  after  all,  a  limit  to  the  authority  of  human  governments?  There  certainly 
is ;  and  that  limit  is  clearly  denned  in  the  Scriptures.  '  We  ought  to  obey  God,  rather  than 
man.'  That  is,  in  case  we  must  disobey  one,  let  it  be  the  creature  rather  than  the  Creator." 
"  It  is  only  when  the  unjust  law  is  so  framed  as  to  require  us  to  violate  some  plain,  specific 
command  of  God,  that  we  are  warranted  in  disregarding  it ;  and  then  we  are  to  guard  against 
treating  with  contempt  the  Government  under  which  we  live.  The  principle  then,  is  this: 
Obey  all  constitutional  laws,  just  or  unjust,  righteous  or  wicked,  unless  they  require  you  to 
violate  the  undoubted  statutes  of  Heaven.  There  may  be  cases  in  which  persons  may  be  jus- 
tified in  disobeying  enactments  which  are  believed  to  be  contrary  to  the  Constitution  under  which 
they  were  made,  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  question  whether  they  have  been  established  by 
competent  authority.  But.  in  such  cases,  the  very  question  is,  Whether  the  enactments  are 
really  binding  as  civil  laws,  and  not  whether  laws  confessedly  established  by  competint  civil 
authority  shall  be  trampled  down." 

In  a  discourse  delivered  March  30th,  1856,  from  MATTHEW  6:6,  on  Meekness,  I  made  the 
following  remark :  "It  may  be  needful,  at  times,  to  practice  self-defense.  It  may  be  lawful, 
and  a  duty,  for  the  friends  of  righteousness  and  liberty,  to  stand  firmly  by  their  fellows,  if  ex- 
asperated oppressors  attempt  to  rob  them  of  their  rights  by  force.  But  does  it  comport  with 
"  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,"  for  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  professors  of  the 
religion  of  peace  and  good  will,  to  make  public  and  exciting  demonstrations  of  their  alacrity 
in  providing  weapons  to  be  used  in  the  deadly  strife  of  brothers  of  the  same  blood  with  each 
other;  and  this,  even  in  the  sanctuaries  of  the  land?  Would  not  Christian  meekness  mourn 
over  a  possible  necessity  for  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  dictate  that  any  preparation  for  such 
a  distressing  emergency  should  be  made  in  melancholy  silence,  and  under  a  veil  of  sorrow?" 

It  will  be  seen  how  little  ground  there  is  for  any  charge  of  inconsistency  in  relation  to  the 
views  which  I  have  presented  on  different  occasions,  touching  this  subject. 


8  PRAYER   FOR    THOSE    IN 

upon  those  who  may  have  injured  us,  after  the  mischief  has  been 
already  done ;  or  with  those  other  precepts  which  enjoin  submission  to 
legitimate  public  authority.  And  if  so,  it  is  not  less  manifest  that  the 
duty  of  praying  for  our  rulers,  in  no  wise  implies  that  we  may  not 
properly  use  all  legitimate  means  to  avert  the  mischiefs  which  may  be 
threatened  by  their  wrong  acts,  or  to  overthrow  their  unrighteous  policy. 
We  are  required  to  pray  even  for  our  enemies ;  which  surely  does  not 
forbid  that  we  should  endeavor  to  frustrate  their  malicious  designs 
against  us.  We  may  pray  for  enemies  and  wicked  rulers,  with  a  sin- 
cere desire  that  God  will  do  them  good,  and  lead  them  into  the  right 
way ;  while  we  do  all  that  in  us  lies  to  disappoint  their  depraved  coun- 
sels, and  protect  the  sacred  interests  which  may  be  in  danger  of  suf- 
fering from  their  misdirected  agency. 

3.  It  is  almost  needless  to  remark,  after  what  has  been  said,  that 
the  shaping  of  our  petitions  for  those  who  possess  civil  authority, 
whether  they  be  citizens  or  constituted  rulers,  must  be  determined  by 
the  particular  features  of  the  case  as  it  stands  before  us.  It  is  of  course 
our  duty  to  pray  for  the  personal  good  of  every  man,  whether  he  occupy 
one  station  or  another  in  life.  But  besides  this,  it  is  our  duty  to  pray 
for  those  who  possess  civil  authority,  with  special  reference  to  their 
official  trusts  and  responsibilities.  We  may  properly  ask  that  their 
right  measures  may  be  prospered,  and  that  their  wrong  policy  may  be 
frustrated  and  brought  to  nought  in  consistency  with  the  best  interests 
of  all  who  are  concerned.  We  ought  to  invoke  for  them  "  that  wisdom 
which  is  profitable  to  direct,"  that  all  their  future  deliberations  and 
actions  may  be  guided  to  the  best  results  for  the  honor  of  God  and 
the  welfare  of  the  people.  We  ought  to  pray  that  their  hearts  may  be 
purified  from  selfishness,  and  their  minds  delivered  from  pride,  preju- 
dice and  passion  ;  that  they  may  perceive  their  duty  and  be  willing  to 
perform  it  at  any  personal  sacrifice.  And  can  any  thing  be  more  mani- 
fest than  the  fitness  of  offering  many  supplications  to  that  God  who 
presides  in  all  the  affairs  of  men,  that  He  may  break  the  power  of  sel- 
fishness and  party  spirit  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  cause  them  to 
choose  their  rulers  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  with  a  wise  regard  to 
the  interests  of  true  liberty,  and  of  intelligence  and  virtue  in  the  land  ? 
And  who  will  not  pray  for  the  speedy  adjustment  of  convulsing  ques- 
tions, and  for  the  suppression  of  human  wrath,  when  the  fires  of  civil 
discord  are  fiercely  burning,  and  when  brothers  of  the  same  blood,  and 
races  of  different  colors,  may  easily  be  precipitated  into  a  long  and 
destructive  conflict  with  each  other,  which  could  only  end  with  the  utter 


POLITICAL    AUTHOEITY. 


devastation  and  ruin  of  the  weaker  section  in  our  hitherto  united  and 
happy  country  ? 

Who  will  not  pray  that  the  sins  of  our  rulers  .and  of  the  people  may 
be  forgiven,  and  that  the  terrible  judgments  which  we  have  as  a  nation 
invoked  upon  ourselves,  may  be  turned  away  from  us  ?  Who  will  not 
pray  that  public  repentance,  and  works  meet  for  repentance,  may  soon 
become  manifest  from  our  National  Capitol  to  all  our  remotest  borders  ? 

IE.  We  are  now  brought  to  notice  some  reasons  why  it  becomes 
us  to  pray  for  all  who  possess  authority,  whether  as  free  citizens  or  as 
official  rulers,  and  especially  at  the  present  time. 

1.  And  the  first  consideration  which  I  would  suggest  is  an  obvious 
one,  but  still  one  of  fundamental  importance.  God  teaches  us  to  ex- 
pect that  He  will  hear  and  answer  appropriate  prayer  for  public,  as  well 
as  for  private  interests.  This  is  implied  in  the  very  fact  that  we  are 
required  to  offer  petitions  for  those  who  are  in  authority.  The  precept 
contained  in  our  text  in  relation  to  this  subject  only  follows  the  tenor  of 
many  precepts  in  the  Old  Testament,  having  the  same  general  end  in 
view.  Thus  the  Psalmist  exhorted  all  saints  to  "  pray  for  the  peace 
of  Jerusalem."  And  Jehovah  counseled  his  people,  by  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  to  "  seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  they  had  been  carried 
away  captives,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it."  But  why  pray  for  such 
interests  but  because  God  has  the  hearts  of  kings,  and  of  all  men,  in 
His  hands,  and  turns  them  as  the  rivers  of  water,  whithersoever  He 
will  ?  He  may  not  see  it  wise  to  do  all  the  particular  things  which  we 
ask  in  relation  to  the  public  weal :  but  he  is  never  sought  in  vain,  by 
those  who  honor  His  supremacy  and  rightly  trust  in  Him.  This  was 
well  understood  by  Abraham,  when  he  interceded  for  Sodom,  and  was 
heard,  so  far  as  the  safety  of  Lot  and  his  family  were  concerned.  It 
was  understood  by  Moses  and  Joshua,  and  by  Samuel  and  David,  by 
Hezekiah,  Daniel  and  Nehemiah,  when  they  so  often  and  so  availingly 
besought  the  Lord  for  the  pardon  and  protection,  or  deliverance  of 
Israel  and  Judah,  and  of  the  tribes  in  captivity,  when  they  were  in 
peril,  or  were  actually  crushed  down  under  the  calamities  which  their 
iniquities  had  brought  upon  them.  We  have  still  to  do  with  the  same 
God.  And  although  we  may  not  expect  that  He  will  save  us  from  evils 
and  give  us  peace  and  prosperity  as  a  people  by  open  miracle,  we  may 
reasonably  hope  and  believe  that  He  will,  in  the  dispensations  of  His 
wonderful  Providence,  circumscribe  and  overrule  the  wickedness  of 
men,  and  bring  order  out  of  confusion,  when  duly  acknowledged  and 
sought  unto  by  those  who  truly  fear  Him.  And  who \knows  what  glo- 


10  PRAYER   FOR   THOSE    IN 

rious  changes  He  may  speedily  work  in  the  political  world,  in  answer  to 
the  humble  prayers  of  His  feeblest  saints?  "  If  GOD  be  for  us,  who 
can  be  against  us?"  Ultimate  success  cannot  crown  the  struggles  of 
any  party  or  class  of  men  who  "  cast  off  fear  and  restrain  prayer  be- 
fore God."  The  nation  and  people  that  will  not  acknowledge  Him,  must 
utterly  perish.  That  cause  which  eschews  the  prayers  of  the  godly, 
and  enlists  against  it  the  sympathies  of  the  Lord's  most  enlightened 
and  devout  servants,  ought  to  fail,  and  must  at  last  come  to  nought. 
Though  hand  join  in  hand,  the  ungodly  and  the  wicked,  who  despise 
prayer,  shall  not  go  unpunished. 

2.  Let  me  remark  further,  that  prayer  for  those  who  possess  and 
exercise  civil  power,  is  specially  adapted  to  fit  us  for  our  duties  in  times 
of  trial  and  public  conflict.  When  we  commune  only  with  our  own 
hearts  and  with  the  minds  of  our  fellow-creatures,  we  surely  give  place 
to  feelings  which  have  their  origin  in  the  depravity  of  our  common  na- 
ture. Left  to  ourselves,  we  cease  to  support  even  right  principles  from 
right  motives ;  our  passions  gain  the  mastery  over  our  conscience  and 
our  benevolence ;  and  we  forget  to  love  the  wrong-doer  as  a  creature  of 
God,  and  to  think  of  him  as  an  instrument  of  Providence,  while  we  in- 
dulge a  sinful  indignation  against  his  person,  and  against  all  who  sym- 
pathize with  him.  We  need  to  get  away,  often,  from  the  human  stand- 
point, and  to  come  up  into  communion  with  Him  who  sitteth  supreme 
above  the  water-floods,  and  who  sees  times,  and  laws,  and  governments 
change,  in  the  continued  repose  of  His  own  eternal  serenity.  It  does 
us  good  to  let  our  troubled  spirits  take  refreshment  and  rest  in  the 
bosom  of  God,  while  we  are  commending  to  Him  both  rulers  and  peo- 
ple, and  asking  Him  to  stay  public  tumults,  and  to  rebuke  violence  in 
high  places,  and  low  places ;  to  ride  on  every  whirlwind  and  direct 
every  storm.  It  helps  us  to  exercise  forbearance  and  possess  our  souls 
in  patience,  and  to  take  our  steps  with  discretion,  to  feel  that  we  are 
allying  ourselves  more  and  more  with  the  Infinite  One,  whose  counsels 
run  from  all  eternity  past  into  all  eternity  to  come.  It  was  this  that 
enabled  all  the  ancient  worthies  to  be  calm  in  times  that  tried  men's 
souls,  and  to  sustain  with  holy  firmness  the  unchangeable  principles  for 
which  they  lived  and  died.  Prayer  to  GOD  ALMIGHTY  for  those  who 
are  in  authority,  reminds  us  that  they  are  but  men,  and  must  die  as 
soon  as  He  shall  breathe  upon  them  ;  and  that  they,  and  we,  and  the 
whole  nation,  are  in  His  hands,  like  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter. 
And  this  ought  to  fill  us  with  solemn  concern  for  all  who  bear  re- 
sponsibilities as  God's  instruments  and  agents,  in  positions  involving 


POLITICAL   AUTHORITY.  11 

official  trust.  Habitual  intercession  with  God  for  those  who  are  in 
authority,  prepares  us  to  recognize  with  hearty  thanksgiving,  their  good 
acts  and  wise  measures,  and  to  deplore  their  mistakes  and  public  offenses 
more  in  grief  than  anger.  The  man  who  prays  much  for  his  rulers 
cannot  be  their  personal  enemy,  however  he  may  feel  bound  to  expose 
their  errors,  or  to  withstand  their  unrighteous  measures.  And  the 
meek  spirit  which  true  prayer  begets  and  cultivates,  always  tends  to 
turn  away  wrath,  even  in  those  who  are  accustomed  to  make  passion 
and  caprice  their  supreme  lawgiver  in  seasons  of  excitement  and  con- 
flict. So  long  as  we  sincerely  pray  for  any  class  of  men,  we  must 
desire  their  highest  welfare,  and  be  ready  to  requite  even  their  hatred 
with  love.  And  0,  what  a  healing  power  is  there  in  Christian  love, 
when  the  hearts  of  men  are  sore  and  bleeding  from  the  effects  of  fierce 
collision  with  each  other  !  The  praying  spirit  in  a  community,  or  nation, 
thus  tends  to  promote  general  good-will,  and  to  calm  the  political 
waters  when  they  have  been  lashed  into  fury  by  tempests  of  popular 
passion.  And  this  spirit  always  saves  Christians  from  such  hasty 
excesses  in  their  own  words  and  actions  as  would  needlessly  involve  them 
in  public  strife,  and  cause  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  to  be  blas- 
phemed. Prayer  for  rulers,  is,  then,  well  fitted  from  its  own  natural 
influence,  to  bring  about  the  result  which  the  Apostle  indicates,  "  that 
we  may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life,  in  all  godliness  and  honesty." 
And  if  there  were  more  of  prayer,  and  less  of  exasperated  denuncia- 
tion, in  relation  to  those  who  represent  influential  parties  on  all  sides, 
and  those  who  are  in  authority  in  particular,  would  there  not  be  more 
of  sober  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  whole  people,  and  less  of  pas- 
sion and  selfish  ambition  in  all  our  public  councils  ? 

3.  Think,  in  the  next  place,  of  the  preciousness  of  the  interests 
that  are  at  stake  in  the  wise,  or  unwise,  administration  of  our  public 
affairs. 

Never  before  was  there  a  nation  with  such  an  ancestry,  and  such  an 
early  history  ;  with  such  a  social  and  political  life,  and  such  a  progres- 
sive development,  as  those  which  distinguish  and  make  proud  the  people 
of  this  great  confederacy.  What  a  treasure  of  national  memories  have 
we,  to  quicken  the  pulsations  of  our  hearts  on  every  glance  at  the  past! 
What  an  inheritance  of  constitutional  liberty  and  unfettered  religion 
have  our  fathers  left  us,  as  the  fruit  of  their  sacrifices  and  blood ! 
What  a  present  of  actually  achieved  greatness  and  power,  and  of  ad- 
vancing prosperity,  and  self-development,  do  we  live  in !  What  a 
future  of  enlargement  and  glory  seems  to  have  been  almost  ensured  to 


12  PRAYER   FOR  THOSE  IN 

us !  Here  we  behold  a  theater  for  more  people  than  now  inhabit  the 
globe.  Here  that  great  experiment  of  self-government  is  in  progress, 
on  the  success  or  failure  of  which  the  faith  of  the  thinking  world  in 
free  institutions  is  to  turn  for  generations  to  come.  Let  this  experiment 
prove  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers,  and  the  practicability  of  perpetuating 
and  fortifying  a  Christian  Republic,  and  the  millions  of  earth's  enslaved 
people  may  lift  up  their  heads  and  hail  their  approaching  redemption. 
Let  this  experiment  end  in  bloody  disaster  and  a  strong  despotism,  and 
the  hopes  of  freedom  will  wither  and  perish  on  the  day  of  our  terrible 
fall.  Here  is  planted  the  purest  and  most  efficacious  Christianity  that 
blesses  man  in  any  country  of  the  world.  Here  religion  is  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  our  race,  truly  free ;  and  here  for  the  first  time, 
the  missionary  spirit  of  the  Gospel  has  found  unobstructed  development. 
Let  these  political  and  educational  and  religious  institutions  stand,  and 
do  their  legitimate  work  through  only  a  few  coming  generations,  and 
what  a  power  will  be  here  concentrated  and  brought  to  a  resistless 
bearing  for  those  glorious  achievements  which  are  set  before  us  in  the 
sublime  pictures  of  the  ancient  prophets !  But  what  if  ignorance,  and 
political  corruption,  and  the  spirit  of  oppression,  shall  break  up  the 
foundations  of  all  these  noble  institutions,  and  cause  the  people  of  the 
Lord  to  sit  down  in  despondency  by  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  and  hang 
their  harps  upon  the  willows !  Where  then  will  be  the  hopes  of  all  the 
future  millions  of  this  land,  for  time  and  eternity  ?  Where  will  be  the 
promise  of  the  world's  speedy  jubilee,  under  the  universal  reign  of  our 
glorious  Christianity  ?  God  alone  can  save  all  these  precious  interests 
from  calamitous  injury  or  utter  ruin.  And  if  he  shall  leave  the  rulers 
and  the  people  of  this  nation  to  their  own  passions,  how  soon  will  all 
that  is  fair  and  of  good  report  among  us,  be  consumed  by  the  torch  of 
civil  war  and  reduced  to  ruin  by  the  deadly  grapple  of  brother  with 
brother,  and  of  master  and  slave  with  each  other  ?  Will  not  every  one 
who  knows  how  to  estimate  the  treasures  which  God  has  entrusted  to 
this  nation,  pray  for  those  who  are  in  authority  ?  pray  for  the  peace  of 
Jerusalem?  Is  not  this  "  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  our 
Saviour,  who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,"  civilly  and  spiritually, 
"  and  to  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth?" 

4.  Let  it  not  be  said,  that  our  interests  as  a  people  are  not  in  spe- 
cial peril.  Let  it  not  be  said,  that  the  bonds  which  cement  us  together 
are  too  strong  to  be  sundered ;  or  that  God  will  not  forsake  us  after 
having  done  so  much  for  us.  We  are  environed  by  peculiar  perils. 
The  history  of  the  world  proves  to  us  that  general  ignorance  and  corrup- 


POLITICAL   AUTHORITY.  13 

tion  among  the  people  are  fearful  causes  of  deterioration  and  decay  in 
any  nation, — that  luxury  and  intemperance  beget  weakness, — that  pride 
and  self-sufficiency  presage  disaster, — and  that  expansion  of  territory 
and  the  consequent  rapid  multiplication  of  diverse  interests,  are  liable  to 
cause  great  commonwealths  to  fall  by  their  own  weight.  And  the  Word 
of  God  assures  us  that  the  nation  and  people  that  will  not  serve 
Jehovah  SHALL  PERISH — so  that  ungodliness  may  be  set  down  as  a  sure 
cause  of  destruction  to  any  persistently  wicked  nation.  Now  we  know 
that  all  these  causes  are  in  a  great  measure  present  and  at  work,  affect- 
ing rulers  and  people,  in  our  beloved  country.  How  much  do  we  see  in 
the  wide-spread  ignorance  and  vice  of  all  our  cities  and  rural  districts  to 
alarm  us,  when  we  remember  that  such  multitudes  of  those  who  exer- 
cise the  sovereignty  of  citizens  are  perpetually  liable  to  be  deceived  by 
corrupt  and  wily  politicians,  or  willing  to  sell  their  votes  at  any  time 
for  the  means  of  gratifying  their  diseased  and  debasing  appetites? 
Who  can  suppress  anxiety  in  looking  towards  our  civil  future,  when  he 
calls  to  mind  the  hundreds  of  thousands  among  those  that  govern  us, 
who  will  inevitably  use  the  elective  franchise  in  favor  of  whatever  party 
will  give  the  freest  indulgence  to  their  vices,  or  lay  the  slightest 
restraints  upon  their  livelihoods,  which  consist  in  the  vending  of  intox- 
icating poisons,  or  in  the  sale  of  virtue  itself,  for  the  destruction  of  the 
tempted '?  Then  what  effeminacy  is  luxury  already  producing  among 
many  of  our  people  !  What  poverty  and  degradation  is  intemperance 
multiplying  !  What  national  pride  and  ambition  have  we  been  display- 
ing !  What  eagerness  for  the  acquisition  of  new  territory  by  just  or 
unjust  means,  have  we  as  a  people  evinced  !  And  what  a  range  of 
diverse  interests  have  we  swept  into  the  one  vast  circle  of  our  public 
and  political  domain  !  What  millions  of  ungodly  people  have  we  in 
the  midst  of  us,  who  daily  profane  Jehovah's  name,  trample  upon  His 
Sabbaths,  and  neglect  or  even  despise  His  sanctuaries  !  How  many  of 
our  rulers  are  "  haters  of  God !"  and  how  few  of  them  humbly 
acknowledge  His  supremacy !  Were  this  the  whole  of  the  case  we 
should  have  reason  to  tremble  for  our  country.  For  God  is  just,  and 
He  punishes  nations  for  their  sins  in  this  world,  where  alone  their 
national  existence  is  maintained.  He  has  indeed  exalted  us  and  pros- 
pered us  greatly  thus  far ;  but  He  will  cast  us  off,  if  we  cast  Him  off : 
and  He  may  yet  choose  to  make  us  an  example  of  the  height  from  which 
a  great  nation  may  be  cast  down,  for  their  sins,  into  the  gulf  of  remediless 
ruin.  He  will  surely  make  us  such  an  example,  unless  our  progressive 
ambition  and  wickedness  shall  be  restrained. 


14  PRAYER   FOR  THOSE   IN 

But  the  whole  of  our  case  has  not  yet  been  suggested.  There  are 
peculiar  causes  of  danger  at  work  in  the  midst  of  us,  that  may  at  any 
moment  combine,  nay,  which  have  even  now  combined,  with  the  more 
ordinary  causes  of  peril  which  have  already  been  noticed.  We  have  in 
this  nation  more  than  two  millions  of  people  whose  religious  ideas  and 
usages  are  essentially  in  unison  with  civil  and  spiritual  despotism,  and 
most  of  whom  may  be  rallied,  at  a  word,  for  the  support  of  any 
party  that  will  further  the  interests  of  the  great  overshadowing  hierar- 
chy at  home  and  abroad,  to  which  they  all  acknowledge  allegiance. 
Then,  we  have,  in  about  one  half  of  our  States  and  Territories,  the 
strange  anomaly  of  Republicanism  and  Despotism  in  its  worst  form, 
closely  combined  in  one  system,  involving  discordant  principles,  dis- 
cordant provisions,  and  mutually  jealous  and  hostile  subjects  of  gov- 
ernment. At  the  same  time  we  have  another  half,  and  much  the 
strongest  half,  of  the  same  General  Confederacy,  composed  of  States 
and  Territories  whose  local  governments  are  purely  Republican,  and 
whose  people,  except  so  far  as  they  are  deceived,  or  blinded  by  the 
interests  of  political  parties,  are  in  their  hearts,  and  souls,  and  most 
religious  convictions,  lovers  of  liberty  and  haters  of  slavery  in  all  its 
forms.  Now,  these  opposing  sectional  interests  and  conflicting  princi- 
ples, can  no  more  be  permanently  reconciled  or  harmoniously  combined 
under  the  same  General  Government,  than  the  Despotism  of  Russia 
and  the  Freedom  of  our  own  Republic  can  be  united  under  the  same 
political  Headship.  The  progress  of  economical,  and  social,  and  moral 
causes,  must  bring  them  more  and  more  into  collision  with  each  other. 
The  startling  violence  which  we  witness  at  our  national  Capitol  and  on 
the  plains  of  a  western  Territory,  are  merely  exponents  of  a  deeper 
conflict  of  mutually  hostile  principles,  which  no  compromise  can  set  at 
one,  and  no  human  skill  can  so .  unite  under  one  system  as  to  prevent 
political  convulsions  and  earthquakes.  Nor  can  our  Union  ever  be 
peacefully  dissolved.  Sooner  or  later,  one  of  three  results  must  occur 
in  this  land,  whatever  may  be  the  cost  of  treasure  or  blood  involved  in 
the  process.  The  principles  of  freedom  must  conquer  and  subjugate 
those  which  uphold  despotism ;  or  the  principles  of  despotism  must 
triumph  and  become  absolutely  dominant,  in  form  as  well  as  iact,  in  all 
our  political  institutions ;  or  else  we  must  be  broken  into  fragments  as 
a  nation  by  civil  discord,  and,  perhaps,  in  the  end  become  the  slaves 
of  some  foreign  power.  No  man  who  has  the  least  moral  or  political  phi- 
losophy to  guide  him,  can  well  shut  his  eyes  to  the  stern  fact  that 
these  solemn  alternatives  are  actually  set  before  us  at  the  present  moment. 


POLITICAL   AUTHORITY.  15 

Now,  the  question  is,  who  but  God  can  so  preside  in  this  conflict  of 
opposing  interests  and  principles,  as  to  save  us  from  the  horrors  of 
internecine  war,  and  establish  our  civil  and  religious  freedom  on  a  basis 
that  can  never  be  shaken  ?  Who  but  God  can  give  us  all  the  wisdom 
and  forbearance,  combined  with  due  moral  decision,  which  we  need  in 
this  critical  process?  Who  but  God  can  save  us  from  hasty  and  de- 
structive adventures  on  either  side,  in  our  sectional  strifes,  and  open 
the  eyes  of  the  blind  ere  it  be  too  late  to  retrace  their  downward  steps  V 
Who  but  God  can  give  to  the  Church  the  needful  moderation,  as  the 
great  conservator  of  peace  and  of  true  boldness  in  times  of  peril  ? 

There  is  hope  in  prayer.  God  can  show  us  how  to  dispose  peacefully 
of  present  issues,  and  how  to  inaugurate  a  policy  that  shall  in  the  end 
take  away  from  our  nation  all  our  chief  occasions  of  fear,  and  make 
every  bondman  civilly  and  spiritually  free.  Let  us,  therefore,  seek  His 
face.  Let  us  plead  with  Him  for  all  our  rulers  and  for  all  the  people. 
Let  us  look  to  Him  for  those  interpositions  by  which  the  foundations  of 
our  glorious  Union  may  be  established  on  the  basis  of  true  and  change- 
less principles,  and  its  arches  be  made  as  firm  as  the  vault  of  heaven. 
"  It  is  better  to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  man.  It 
is  better  to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  princes.  God 
is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble." 

"  I  exhort,  therefore,  that,  first  of  all,  supplications,  prayers,  inter- 
cessions, and  giving  of  thanks  be  made  for  all  men ;  for  kings,  and  for 
all  that  are  in  authority  :  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life, 
in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  For  this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the 
sight  of  God  our  Saviour ;  who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to 
come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." 


5  f 7    ( 


